


And Other Legends

by dotfic



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, outsider pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-06
Updated: 2010-04-06
Packaged: 2017-10-15 05:09:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/157351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dotfic/pseuds/dotfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The road trip was really boring until he found the superheroes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Other Legends

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: For deirdre_c, who asked for gen sparring with an outsider pov. Thank you to meko00 for the sharp beta. Set during S1.

With the heat, they kept all the windows rolled up, not even open a crack, and the confinement was starting to get to him. It was like they'd never been anywhere but on this highway under the hot sun. The a/c made a steady low shushing noise from the front but it didn't do anything to make Josh feel soothed, not after an hour of Tommy kicking him in the shins every five minutes. Liz slouched on the other side of him with her arms folded over her chest, her fine dark hair slipping all messy out of the pink butterfly-shaped barrettes, her knees drawn up with her sneakers on the seat, which Mom and Dad had yelled at them a hundred times not to do, but they said nothing to Liz about it now, which was really unfair. Also, he was hungry.

Tommy kicked him again, but since Josh was oldest, he couldn't shove or slap him in retaliation.

"Stop it," he said, and clenched his fingers around his brother's bare knee, careful not to touch the healing scrape from last week, when Tommy'd fallen off his bike.

His little brother's leg stilled as Josh noticed Dad looking at them in the rearview mirror before he turned back to the road. Mom rested against the door. She wasn't asleep -- when he leaned forward to check she gave him a small smile. Her hair, dark like Liz's, was curly like his, and a little frizzy in the humidity.

Her smile made the hollowness in his stomach a little less, worrying what they were headed towards. He guessed he should be excited, new house and new town and new school in the fall, but he couldn't be. First Mom had gotten sick. She was okay now, stronger. But it was like there was less of her than there had been -- all of her that was Mom was still there, but washed out a few degrees. He'd hold onto her in his head, though, like she always told him to hold on to Tommy and Liz's hands when they were in a big, bustling place, so she couldn't slip away. Then Dad had lost his job -- wasn't his fault. But Josh couldn't help feel queasy when he thought about it. What he wanted was his room at home, fan blowing in the window while he lay on his stomach reading comic books and Tommy played with action figures and Liz always coming into their room even though they told her she was a girl and couldn't. Liz always wanted to mix the action figures with her stuffed animals, which was ridiculous -- you couldn't have Boba Fett going on adventures with a floppy-eared bunny. That simply didn't _work_.

Anyway, except for the fluttering in his stomach, the whole long trip had been too hot and really, really boring.

At least it had been until they stopped to eat lunch, and he found the superheroes.

* * *

They both wore regular clothes -- jeans and t-shirts -- like his. They were going _incognito_. At least he thought that was the right word. His computer was in the moving van that was on its way to meet them at their new house so he couldn't look it up and no way was Dad loaning him his cell phone again, not after what had happened last time.

But he knew they were superheroes because he read a lot of comic books and some of them, especially the ones without special powers, had to do training. Even after they were good at it, they still practiced. Also, he couldn't think of anybody else who would be fighting each other like that at a rest stop unless they were mortal enemies.

One of the guys flipped the other one onto his back. When the second guy landed, his face screwed up into a wince. He had long limbs and hair that would make Mom go running for the scissors. The one with the neat buzz cut reached down to him. The taller one hesitated, then grasped the offered arm and allowed himself to be pulled up.

Some mortal enemies might be that honorable, but in Josh's experience that was pretty rare. Also, they grinned at each other as they faced off again.

The guy with the buzz cut made a mock-pity face and said, "Pathetic, Sam. That's pathetic. You've gotten rusty."

"Really," Sam said, in a slow drawl, and he sounded a little like that guy in the old black and white Westerns Dad liked to watch. Then he moved so fast Josh sort of lost track of what happened, but Sam's leg hooked around the other guy's and the one with the buzz cut landed flat on his back.

He rolled and was right back up on his feet again, faster than Josh could snap his fingers, circling Sam.

He should probably go back to their picnic table. He was only a little ways into the woods, though, right at the edge of them, so it was probably okay. A thick line of overgrown grass and bushes separated him from the field. If he took two steps, he'd be out in the open and in sight of Mom and Dad.

Buzz Cut made like he was going to strike in one direction, and when Sam ducked that way, he kicked him the other way. Sam fell hard on his side and said a word that Josh and Tommy and definitely Liz weren't ever, ever allowed to say, or even hear on TV, even though he'd heard it lots of times, around school, and because his best friend Aaron had cable.

A rustling noise sounded behind him and a sweaty, small hand grabbed his. "Josh," Liz whispered, tugging. "What're you doing?"

"Ssh," he said.

Sam rolled over, arched his back, and flipped himself onto his feet. He seemed like he should be tripping over his own long legs and arms, but he was smooth, as light on his feet as the other one, who moved in a different way, sharper and quicker. Josh thought the slight smirk on his face was put on, like he was trying to make this look effortless but he was actually concentrating hard. He never seemed to stay still. Sam turned, gaze tracking him, shoulders tight, hands loose and ready.

"Hey, Josh, what--"

He put his palm over Tommy's mouth, still gripping Liz's hand. He said low, through clenched teeth, "Both of you can stay and watch, but you have to be quiet."

Liz's eyes widened. "Why're they fighting?"

"'Cause they're superheroes," said Josh, releasing Tommy.

"Cool." Tommy crouched next to him. His shorts already grass-stained even though they'd only been at the rest stop for about half an hour.

They were hand-me-downs, but that was all the more reason to take good care of them. Tommy would also get his sneakers soon -- they were growing tight in the toe. He didn't want to say anything to Mom and Dad about it, not right now with the move and before the new job started and all. Sneakers cost money.

"Wait," said Tommy. "If they're superheroes, why're they fighting each other?"

"I'd explain, but it's kind of complicated," he said. "Now shut up."

Sam let loose with a spin-kick that was completely _awesome_ and that he'd only seen in movies. The other guy landed hard. He lay there gasping for breath, staring up at the sky, knees bent. He wheezed out a few more words on the list of things Josh knew he wasn't allowed to say, and one he'd never heard in his life, then turned on his side and coughed.

"Dean. Hey, Dean, man, you okay?" Sam's face changed from triumph to concern. He knelt. "Wow, I didn't mean to --"

Grabbing his shoulders, Dean flipped Sam over so Sam landed with a thump a few feet away. Birds fluttered up from a tree.

Tommy's mouth opened in an _O_ of awe. Liz clenched Josh's hand so tight it cut off the blood flow, but she watched the two guys with a quiet, respectful expression, her lower lip tucked in.

Turning onto his back, Sam let out a grunt of pain before his shoulders started to shake with laughter. "You sonofabitch," he said. "You cheater."

"Hey, Sammy." Dean moved over next to him and sat with his elbows resting on his knees. He snapped off a few blades of grass, twirling them between his thumb and forefinger before tossing them away. "Can't get too complacent. The crap we hunt cheats."

Josh's fist pumped the air. He had no idea what Dean specifically meant by _hunt_ \-- monsters or vampires or invading aliens, it didn't matter. He'd been right about them.

Their clothes looked kind of scuffed -- there were holes in the knees of Dean's jeans and whatever logo was on Sam's t-shirt had faded to a soft blur from many cycles through the wash. They wore shoes with thick treads, the leather softened into creases, color faded with dust. Whatever type of superheroes they were, they weren't the billionaire kind with a lot of gadgets in a cave. He bet their car was pretty amazing, though.

"C'mon, we'd better get back." Josh twitched his arm, Liz let up her grip a fraction, and Tommy got to his feet. "And you can't tell anybody we saw them." He brushed twigs and grass off Tommy's legs. "Not Mom and Dad, not anybody."

Liz and Tommy nodded in unison.

He herded them, his fingers light against their backs, guiding them towards the field, but he kept glancing over his shoulder into the woods.

Sam got to his feet and reached down to Dean. Dean grasped Sam's arm and Sam pulled him up.

As they moved away deeper into the trees, Dean reached up and his palm glanced against the back of Sam's head, not rough, almost ruffling his hair. Sam hunched his shoulders, then shoved Dean. Dean staggered away a step before they fell into pace with each other again as if nothing had happened.

Josh watched them walk away until the green shadows swallowed them and he couldn't see them any more.

~end  



End file.
